Problems
by dumac
Summary: Watching her began to feel like stalking. She felt like she was seeing something that was not meant for her eyes to see. That's why she couldn't look away. { Mainly Cophine; but will feature nearly every other character at some point or another. Criminal AU. Multi-chapter. }
1. Chapter 1

Cosima hated that it was her turn to do this. In the long run, though, it was all worth it when the endgame involved being handed three or four generous stacks of one-hundred-dollar bills.

She should have known that she would be scoping out a building that seemed to be holding a business party, of all things. She never got the cool ones. There were silver-haired white men in plain suits in every direction, if that helps you get a better understanding of the atmosphere that this place held.

She was here with one other person, but only because they could use their status as a cop to help Cosima get into the place easier. Beth was cool, but she quickly walked off to do her own thing and left Cosima to get to work, which she was done with within about fifteen minutes.

Now, she was just observing. People-watching was one of her favorite things to do at events like this. She made imaginary bets on the men in particular, estimating how long it would take until one of them approached a female that appeared to be at least ten years younger than him. Bonus points if he refused to acknowledge the obviously uncomfortable expression of the woman he chose to pursue.

Only once did Cosima witness a young woman approach one of these men instead of the other way around.

Watching her began to feel like stalking. She felt like she was seeing something that was not meant for her eyes to see. That's why she couldn't look away. It was odd, because the woman wasn't really even doing anything. She was making small talk with men considerably older than she was, but Cosima started to doubt herself.

Maybe that wasn't a very odd sight these days. In the however-many-minutes Cosima had been watching her at this point, the woman had received three different drinks from three different men.

She wasn't after men, though. There's no way she was. It was all in the way she held herself, the way she started conversations with one gray-haired man after the other, the way she only ever seemed to ask for clear drinks, and the way she watched each man that went to fetch her one like a hawk.

Every time Cosima watched the woman stare down a man from across the room, she couldn't refrain from smirking. It was just too much fun to watch, though it was the same cycle over and over again. Move to one man. Talk to him. Smile and laugh at jokes that probably weren't funny. Walk with him for a moment, maybe even link an arm around one of his. Whether the man offered to buy her a drink or not determined how long each of these exchanges were. If no drink was offered, it all went by pretty quickly before the woman pointed in another direction and made up some excuse so that she could leave and start the pattern over again with someone else.

Cosima's favorite parts were when a man that the woman had already talked to approached her again. These were her favorite because those were the only honest moments the woman seemed to have. Her expression would quickly dissolve from cool and amiable to fidgety and eager to get away by the mere existence of whichever man it was. Needless to say, they were all driven off pretty quickly, muttering insulting profanities. _'Bitch'_ and _'Cunt'_ were a few prime examples that Cosima had had the pleasure of hearing herself when they were close enough. Then, she was off to her next target with her fake emotions covering her face like a mask.

The word 'target' is used very loosely, because Cosima wasn't sure if they actually were victims of this woman. Emotional victims, maybe, in some cases.

The woman was tall and wore all black. The dress that cut off just above her knees was black, as were her stilettos, her nails, any jewelry she was wearing, her purse, and even her hair. The only things about her that weren't black were her pale skin and her lips that were colored with red lipstick.

Everything about her seemed elegant. It was a dangerous kind of elegant, though. The kind of elegance that drew absolutely everyone in. Cosima couldn't tell if she was just faking that as well as the way she was confidently smiling up at a man who was at least an unsettling fifty-five years old.

"I just expected you to be here primarily on shittily-thought-out illegal business. Yet here you are, staring down what looks like a very expensive prostitute," Beth's voice was a whisper, but the close proximity in which she was standing next to Cosima made her loud and clear. She nudged Cosima with her elbow, "What's with that, huh?"

Cosima turned her head slightly so that Beth could hear her better, but her eyes still never left the woman, "It's not shittily-thought-out, first off. I'm just scopin' this place out a little bit. I already got all the info I need, though, so I'll stare at whoever I want," she nodded towards the woman in black, "She's not a hooker. Definitely not…" Her voice kind of trailed off a bit towards the end and she paused before speaking up again, "She's up to something, though. I just can't figure what."

"Just looking to get some free drinks, maybe," Beth shrugged. They were both watching her now. The woman was currently in the middle of her process of staring down some poor bastard that offered to buy her a drink, making sure he didn't try anything.

"I dunno, man," Cosima sighed, "I don't think that's it."

In silence, they continued their attempted analysis of her, watching as she smiled and took her newest drink from the man. They began talking, and Cosima desperately wished she knew what they were saying to each other. Had the woman been striking up the same topics of conversation with every single man she'd come across? Just the thought of it made Cosima laugh. The woman leaned in and whispered something in the man's ear, smiled sweetly, and left him looking like a grinning idiot who thought that he actually had a chance with her, even though he obviously did not. It was quite a beautiful scene, actually. Everything this woman was doing (whatever she was doing) was executed perfectly enough to make all of these guys look like damned fools.

Cosima snapped out of her trance when Beth laughed beside her, "You're smart, Cosima, but you're a dipshit at the same time."

"What? What are you talking about?" Cosima asked, finally looking at her friend instead of the black-haired woman.

"You've easily been watching that woman for _ten minutes_ at least, and the only thing you picked up on was that she _might_ be up to something?" Beth had an incredulous look on her face.

Cosima didn't respond, but she now understood why Beth was a detective.

Her friend sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well, genius, I think we just witnessed theft," She patted the other woman on the back, "Not your kind of theft, though. Looks like that woman decided to go with the good, old fashioned method," she smirked and shook her head.

Cosima quickly became skeptical and her voice lowered to a whisper again, "Theft?"

"Yup."

Cosima looked back to the tall woman, but couldn't find her. She let her eyes trace over the entire room but didn't see her anywhere. She turned to Beth again, "She's gone."

The detective pointed and said, "She went into a back room."

"With who?" Cosima asked quickly, turning her body to face Beth completely.

"Jesus, calm down. She didn't go in there with anyone."

Cosima gave a sigh of relief. Knowing that she went into a back room with someone would have ruined the the enjoyment that she was getting out of this. It also would have hit her with a pang of jealousy, but Cosima chose not to dwell long on that part.

"I should probably arrest her," she heard Beth sigh beside her, and that made Cosima snap away from her thoughts again.

"That kinda douche-y, don't you think? Why would you do that?" Cosima sounded personally offended, as if she were the one being arrested.

"Because I'm a fucking _cop_, that's why."

"Yeah, but you're not a _real_ cop," Cosima argued.

"_Bitch_," Beth remarked, looking her up and down, "I went through the school and I earned the badge and you're trying to tell me that I'm not a _real_ cop?"

"Sorry, sorry," Cosima put her hands up in defense, "I meant to say that you're not exactly a _traditional_ cop."

"You're damn right," Beth agreed, "But I prefer the term 'double agent.'"

"I think 'two-faced' is a better descriptor," Cosima commented, and Beth smirked.

"Listen, I'll always be on you guys' side because I owe Alison and, truthfully, I've grown to like all of you morons," Beth explained, "And I'll never turn on you guys, but

I'm still a cop. I've gotta arrest people now and then, or people will start to get suspicious when they realize I'm taking advantage of resources and not raking in actual criminals."

Cosima nodded, albeit slowly.

"I'll protect you guys. I always will, but," Beth pointed to the back room, "I don't have any connections to that woman, and it just so happens that I just saw her steal a wallet. Probably not the first one she's stolen tonight, too."

Cosima was about to comment on that when the door to the back room opened. The black-haired woman wasn't the person who emerged, though. Cosima felt her heart drop in disappointment.

"Who the hell is that?" Beth wondered.

Cosima didn't answer; she just took a moment to analyze the person who left the room. It was another woman, except this one had wild blonde and wore a jeans and a black coat. She looked… good. She looked _really_ good, but the outfit seemed a bit unfit for the type of event they were currently at.

She also had a purse that looked awfully familiar. Then, the realization hit her hard. Cosima squinted and pushed her glasses closer to her eyes, trying to get a better look at the woman's face. Any make-up she was wearing had been wiped off, but it was undoubtedly the same woman.

Cosima just started laughing, "Wow. Just… wow," she turned towards Beth with a grin, "We just witnessed something _extremely_ shady," she continued laughing, maybe a bit louder than she should have been.

Now was Beth's turn to play the confused role, but she quickly caught on. She snapped her fingers and pointed at the woman, "Same person?"

Cosima nodded once, still grinning, "Yup."

Beth started laughing, "She didn't even use a back exit or anything! She must be pretty confident," she began, "Now _that's_ actually pretty fucking funny. I should have known that that black hair was fake. It's so obvious now."

Cosima nodded.

Beth's amusement subsided and she sighed, "I almost don't even want to arrest her now."

"Woah, woah," Cosima turned towards her friend again and put her arm up in front of her so that she wouldn't move, "You're _still_ gonna arrest her?"

Beth nodded.

"C'mon, man, don't be a bitch," Cosima tried to reason.

"_Legally, _I have to arrest her, Cosima."

"Yeah, I know that, obviously," Cosima said, unconsciously using her hands to assist in what she was trying to get across to her friend, "And_ legally_, you shouldn't be doing half the shit you do as a cop."

Beth said nothing and just shrugged. Cosima looked back towards the blonde woman and spotted her as she was about leave the building. Beth saw this as well and instinctively started to follow her.

Cosima started walking alongside her, "Hey, hey, hey. Slow down." Beth didn't slow down, of course, and Cosima continued, "Earlier you said that you were going to arrest her because you have no ties to her, right?"

Beth kept walking and nodded.

"Well then, there we go," Cosima said and halted. She grabbed Beth by the arm which forced her to stop walking as well.

Beth whipped around to face her, obviously annoyed. She yanked her arm out of Cosima's grip and snapped, "What?"

"If I go talk to her before you have a chance to slap on the handcuffs, then you _will_ have a connection. She's a soon-to-be friend-of-a-friend," Cosima grinned, and put her hand on her friend's shoulder, "There ya go. There's your connection."

Beth crossed her arms and just stared at Cosima. She eventually just sighed, "You're a fucking piece of work, you know that?"

The other woman just kept grinning.

"Fine," Beth groaned, "Have fun with your sleazy new friend, then," she said and turned on her heel.

* * *

**AN; I will GLAAAADLY accept any constructive criticisms on anything, but especially on how I write Beth, because I've honestly (and maybe obviously) never written Beth before, and I want to do her as much justice as I possibly can. It's kinda tough because we never really got to see much of her personality, just buts and pieces here and there, ya know. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

The constant low hum of conversations that emitted from the building behind her was thunderous compared to the silence of the town's streets. The only thing Cosima heard that wasn't muffled talking was the clicking of heels on pavement from the woman she had followed out. She also heard the flick of a lighter. Not once, not twice, but multiple times before she barely made out he irritated sigh of defeat that the woman let out as she was walking farther down the street and away from Cosima.

"Need a light?" The girl yelled after her, determined to not let her get away from her so quickly.

The woman stopped at the same time Cosima began walking towards her to try and close the distance so she wouldn't have to yell again. The blonde turned around partially to look at Cosima, "Oh, um, no," she shook her head, "No thank you," she gave a small, nervous wave before she turned around and kept walking.

"You sure?" Cosima asked, trying to speed up her steps subtly so that the gap between them wasn't lengthened again, "You seemed to be struggling to get a response out of your lighter for a while there."

The clicking of heels stopped again, accompanied by another sigh from the woman. Cosima quickly appeared beside her and the woman held up the cigarette that was placed neatly between her index and middle fingers and put it between her lips instead. The smaller woman flashed a grin up at her and fished her lighter out of her coat pocket, holding it up to the blonde's cigarette.

Instinctively, the woman cupped her hands around the lighter to block off any offending wind, and Cosima flicked her thumb down to spark a flame for her.

She pulled back, gave a small, insignificant smile, and said, "Thank you," but before Cosima could tell her that it was no problem, the blonde's focus was pulled away from her by the sound of a heavy, metal door slamming itself shut.

She visibly tensed and because of that, so did Cosima, but as the woman flinched away to attempt an escape, Cosima grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back until their previous positions were switched so that the blonde was now the one facing the security guard who came stomping out of the building. He was looking around a bit rapidly, and Cosima's eyes flicked back to the woman who now looked painfully aware and helpless to the situation going on around her.

Cosima offered her a smile and whispered, "No one looks more suspicious than the person rapidly walking away, trust me," she said, "even if you changed your hair, people will _still_ recognize a face, so stop being so fidgety, or you'll get me in trouble too."

Cosima's grip on her arm loosened and she let it fall until she was lightly grasping her hand instead, trusting that she was smart enough to not try and run away again.

The woman looked at Cosima, but the shorter woman wasn't looking back at her anymore. She was looking beyond her, at the security guard, no doubt.

Heavy, booted footsteps sounded closer and closer to them with each beat on the sidewalk and when the guard stopped and let out a deep-voiced, "Excuse me," the blonde snapped her eyes shut tightly, silently praying to anyone who might be listening.

As if the only person who was listening was Cosima herself, the brunette gave her hand a small but reassuring squeeze before she gave her full attention to the guard.

"Yes?" She said, "Is there a problem?"

"Sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for someone who just left that building there," he gestured to it by pointing with his thumb, and he had his other hand gripping his belt, "Did you see anyone leave, by chance?"

By this time, the blonde had slowly opened her eyes again in time to see Cosima give him a confused look and ask, "What did they look like?"

The blonde dug her fingernails into the flesh of the shorter woman's hand to silently beg her to stop messing around. Cosima was still watching the guard, but she had a shameless grin on her face that the blonde knew was for her.

The guard quickly and vaguely described the suspect as a female with black hair and a black dress, and the blonde nearly wanted to drop dead when he told Cosima that she was 'about your friend's height.'

Cosima told him that she thought she had actually seen her, and the blonde shot her a warning glare although the other girl couldn't see it.

"I saw her cross the street, actually," she continued, and put her arm up to point in the complete opposite direction that the woman had originally been walking. She squinted, "and I _think_ she rounded that corner there. Don't hold me to that, though."

The guard gave a deep sigh and said, "Alright. Well, thank you."

"No prob," she told him, and the blonde _almost_ gave a sigh of relief. She was _almost _free when the brunette opened her mouth yet again, "Can I ask why you're looking for her?"

The urge to hit her was _overwhelming_. This girl was going to kill her. Or get her killed. Whichever was quicker. She had completely forgotten about the lit cigarette between her fingers, and she flicked off the growing bud ash at the tip before taking a drag off of it, hoping to draw forth any sort of calming effects it may offer her.

Despite her longing to get as far away from the conversation as possible, the woman couldn't help but be impressed and even _charmed_ by the other woman, as odd as it might have sounded. She had obviously seen completely through her at the 'party', so she knew what she had been up to. She didn't exactly look like she made a habit of giving criminals a helping hand. She simply looked too _nice. _Her grin wasn't unnerving; it was bright, maybe even playful. It left the blonde wanting to smile back despite her unforgiving anxiety at that given moment.

The guard began to respond, "Well, I probably shouldn't really be telling you, but…" There was a pause, and the blonde took that moment to observe that she wasn't the only person falling victim to the girl's enticing nature. The guard was easily being persuaded into giving her details about his search. Details that the girl already _knew_. He wasn't aware of that, though, "There's been two consecutive reports of stolen wallets. Both of the victims said they had been talking to the same black-haired woman before realizing that their wallets were gone, though."

"Oh, geeze," the brunette's grin was replaced by a cringe, "Well, good luck, man. Sorry I couldn't help much," she shrugged, and she genuinely looked sorry. The blonde allowed herself to smile, and though it was small, it was the first real smile she had given anyone that night.

"It's quite alright," he assured her, "Have a safe night, ma'am."

"Yeah, you too," she said, and the guard turned on his heel. Cosima finally looked back at the woman, and the grin that was now famous to the blonde returned in full.

Before even reacting to the dreadlocked girl, the woman twisted around to watch the guard walk away. She brought the cigarette up to her lips and back down again, exhaling grey smoke that quickly dissipated above them. Once the guard was out of her voice's range, she turned back around with a smile that was wider than before, "Merci."

The other girl nodded once, "Of course, of course. Don't worry about it," she had to tilt her chin upwards slightly to admire the way the yellow light of the street lamp hit the woman in front of her, "You can pay me back by telling me your name, maybe?" She sounded hopeful, and she leaned towards her slightly.

The blonde looked down momentarily to silence her laugh, and when she looked back up, she decided to tell her, "Delphine."

"Delphine?" The brunette repeated, testing out the name for herself. The woman nodded. Cosima broke into another fanged smile, "So, Delphine, is that actually your real name, or-?"

"Oui, yes, it is," she assured her, "I promise."

"Also…" Cosima began, but paused to think before she continued, "Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention earlier or something, but," she gave a small wave of one of her hands, "were you French, like, forty-five seconds ago? Usually I notice that kind of thing right off the bat, but I didn't catch your accent 'til just now."

Delphine thought back. She had used an American accent to the people she had talked to at the party, she knew that much. She must have still had it when the brunette first approached her by force of habit. She didn't exactly mean to fall back into speaking with her natural French lilt, and usually she would have wanted to hit herself for being so reckless, but at the moment she just couldn't bring herself to care. She broke into another light smile, for herself more than anyone, and said, "No, I was not French forty-five seconds ago. Don't worry, your observation skills are not off."

"That totally great to hear, actually. Thanks for the reassurance, _Delphine_," Cosima made sure to say the name rather delicately, as if that were the only way her name could be said, "But what's up with you letting me hear your real accent _and_ telling me your real name? I just watched you steal a bunch of dudes' wallets, don'tcha think that's a little risky?"

"Oui, very risky," Delphine quickly agreed and looked over her shoulder to see that the guard wasn't even in sight any more. She was only glancing away for a fraction of a second before she turned back to Cosima, "Maybe it sounds silly, but I think I trust you a little bit after all of _that_," she said, "although you carried on the conversation with the security guard much too long."

"Yeah? The indentions your nails left on the back of my hand told me the same thing," she laughed, and Delphine's shoulders dropped, as did her jaw moments before any actual sounds came out. Cosima knew that she was about to apologize for it, but she didn't even let her begin. She put up one hand and said, "Don't worry about it. It's not like you asked me to protect you from the law, after all," she dropped her hand and her grin reappeared, although this time, Delphine noticed, it appeared more mischievous than the ones before it, "You should probably be taking some notes, Miss Runs-Away-at-the-Sight-of-A-Cop."

Delphine smacked her arm, like she had wanted to long before.

* * *

AN; Wow, yeah, it was about time I updated this. Fuck. Sorry. Updates after this will hopefully be more frequent, I've just been kinda sorta stressed out lately by my impending doom aka adult life. Whoops.


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